Plastic binding sealing machine



C. E. EMMER PLASTIC BINDING SEALING MACHINE Filed Jan. 2', 1940 V fingers overlapping the backbone.

Patented Feb. 22, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,342,130 I Y PLASTIC BINDING SEALING MACHINE Charles Edward Emmer, Chicago, 111., assignor to General Binding Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application January 2, 1940, Serial No. 311,931

4 Claims.

This invention relates to plastic bindings such as are shown in the United States patent to a means for overcoming a certain defect present particularly in the plastic binding shown in the Douvry patent mentioned above, this defect being a tendency for the end pages or the covers of the book to work in between-the fingers and the backbone of .the binding.

The chief forms of plastic binding which have been in commercial use up until the present time consist of the two forms referred to above, and each of these comprises a longitudinally extending backbone having a plurality of fingers extending from one edge thereo and curling around to form rings, the ends of the The 7 pages which are bound by the plastic binding are provided with a row of. perforations along one edge, and the rings of the binding extend through these perforations. The rings formed by the fingers are, in effect, split rings and remain closed only because of the stiifness of the material of which they are formed. This necessitates the use of Celluloid, cellulose acetate, or other plastics of substantial thickness in order to secure the necessary stifiness. the overlapping portions of the rings were cemented together, the, rings would thus be held closed and could be made of substantially lighter and less expensive material.

In the form of plastic bindings shown in the Douvry patent mentioned above, the ends of the fingers lie on the inside of the backbone and the end pages often Work in between the fixed fingers and the backbone near the top and bottom of the pages and become disengaged from the rings. This trouble occurs rarely, if atall, with the form of plastic binding shown inmy above mentioned copendingxapplication, but it can be prevented in both forms of plastic bindings by cementing the ends of the fingers either to the backbone in the case of the Douvry' type or to the. overlapped portion of the fingers in the case of the other type of plastic binding.

My invention, in its broadest aspects, provides a new and extremely simple means for cementing the parts of plastic bindings together at the Obviously, if i points described above, 'andconsists in applying a small amount of solvent to the overlapping portion of the. binding after the binding is assembled upon a book and allowing the solvent to be drawn in between the overlapping portions of the binding by capillary attraction, and then allowing it to evaporate. Before the solvent evaporates, it has dissolved enough of the plastic material to form a cement and, upon evaporation, leaves the portions of the binding firmly cemented together.

Another phase of my invention, in its broader aspects, consists of a guide-way along which'the back of the book bound with a plastic binding is moved and a device, such as a rotary brushdipping into a reservoir of solvent, for lightly applying solvent to the binding. I

My invention itself, however, both as to the organization and manner of construction of th'e apparatus and the specific manner of operating the same, together with further objects and advantages thereof may best'be understood by reference to the following description and to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side view of one of the preferred forms of apparatus for carrying out-the inven- Figure 2 is a cross section on the line II-Il of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a view of some of the parts seen on looking down from the line IIIIII in Figure 1.

The'particular form of the apparatus shown in the drawing comprises a rectangular receptacle H1 mounted upon four rubber feet H which will prevent it from slipping when it is placed upon a table top or othersmooth surface.

Each of the two longer sides of the receptacle I0 carries a U-shaped bearing I2 secured to it on its inner-side just below its upper edge. The two bearings :2 are in alignment-and serve to support the shaft l3 of a narrow cylindrical brush M. The brush I4 is a press fit upon the shaft i3, and the latter is freely rotatable in its bearings l2 sothat the brush I4 is freely rotatl6 secured to it in any suitable manner, as by screws [1, and covering the entire receptacle except for a slot [8 through which the brush [4 projects. At each end, the cover 16 carries a pair of guide brackets [9 having upwardly extending flanges 20 between which a guide roller support 2| fits.

The guide roller support 2! is a deep channel member having a plurality of guide rollers 22 journaled upon pins 23 extending across between the flanges of the guide roller support 2 l. Each of the guide rollers 22 is spool shaped or concave in profile, and the rollers 22'are closely spaced together in a single plane so that their concave sides form, in effect, a roller trough.

At the center of its length, the bottom of the guide roller support 2| is cut away, as shown in Figure 1, and the guide rollers 22 arespaced apart at this point in order to allow the brush M to project up within the guide roller support as shown in Figures 1 and 2.

It will be noted that the concave edge of the brush l4 lies in line with the concave sides of the rollers 22 so that, if an elongated object is moved along on the rollers 22 from one end of the guide roller support 2! to the other, it will roll on the top of the brush as well as on the guide rollers 22.

- In order to secure accurately this relationship between the guide rollers 22 and the brush M, the guide roller support 2| is vertically adjustable. The adjustable mounting comprises a pair of studs 24 secured to the bottom of the guide roller support 21 and projecting down through lugs 25 on each end of the receptacle l0. lugs 25 are slotted and contain large knurled nuts 26 through which the studs 24 are threaded and by means of which the height of the guide .brush. The splatter guard 21 can be adjusted so that its nose or projection 30 just clears-the bristles l5 of the brush so that any drops of solvent which are thrown oil by the rotating brush [4 will be caught by the guard 21, instead .of being thrown up onto the work, and will drain back into the receptacle l0.

- Inusing the device which has been described,

a group of sheets 3| held together by a plastic binding 32 is placed upon the guide rollers 22 atthe right side of the machine as seen in Figure 1 with the binding 32 resting upon the guide rollers. Care is taken to see that the overlapping portion of the binding 32 is underneath, and then the book formed bythe leaves 3| and binding 32 is moved on the guide rollers and across the brush M and onto the guide rollers 22 at the other end of the machine. During this operation, the bristles 15 of the brush carry solvent from the lower portion of the receptacle Ill and apply it to the edges of the overlapping portions of the binding 32 whereupon capillary attraction draws the solvent in between the overlapping portions. The book is then placed flat upon a suitable support and is allowed to rest undisturbed until the solvent has evaporated. During this period, the

The

solvent, which may suitably be acetone if the material of the plastic binding is Celluloid or cellulose acetate, dissolves the adjacent surfaces of the overlapping portions of the binding and forms a cement which, upon drying, fastens the overlapping portions together securely.

While I have described the operation of the device as being carried out with a pure solvent, such as acetone,'the solvent may have a certain amount of the plastic or other cementing material already dissolved in it before it is applied to the plastic binding, so that it will of itself constitute a cement. Other types of adhesives as may be found suitable may be used, especially if the binding is made of some other material than a plastic.

While I have described my invention as being applied to plastic bindings, it is to be understood that the term plastic bindings is to include both bindings formed of plastic material and bindings formed in the same general manner from other materials which may be cemented by some suitable solvent or adhesive. It is also to be understood that the term plastic binding as used in the claims, is to be given this broad meaning and that the term cementing liquid is to include both a pure solvent which will result in the cementing together of the overlapping parts of a binding and also liquids which are in themselves cements suitable for this purpose. It is also to be understood that the device which has been illustrated and described is only one form of the invention and that I claim as my invention any apparatus falling qsuarely within the terms of the accompanying claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A device for applying a liquid to the back of a book comprising a stationary rectilinear guideway, rotatable elements spaced longitudinally along said guideway and having their peripheries shaped for receiving said back in seated relation thereon, a liquid receptacle below said guideway, and a rotary brush extending into said receptacle and into said guideway between a pair of adjacent rotatable elements for transferring liquid from the receptacle to said back as the book passes over said pair of rotatable elements.

2. A device for applying a liquid to the back of a book, comprising a receptacle, a guideway extending across said receptacle and having a series of concave rollers, and a rotary brush extending into said receptacle and into said guideway.

3. A device for applying a liquid to the back of a book, comprising a receptacle, a guideway extending across said receptacle and having a series of freely rotatable concave rollers, and a freely rotatable brush extending into said receptacle and into said guideway.

4. A device for applying a liquid to the back of a book, comprising a receptacle, a guideway extending across said receptacle and having a series of freely rotatable concave rollers arranged in a plane with their axes parallel, said rollers being arranged with a substantial space between twooi said rollers, and a freely rotatable rotary brush extending into said receptacle and into said gap between said rollers, the axis of said brush being parallel to the axes of said rollers and the periphery of said brush being substantially on a line with the upper surfaces of said rollers. CHARLES EDWARD EMMER. 

